The Scientist's quarrel

Chapter six

Arlo was nose deep in her work when she heard a loud knock on her door. "Come in." her voice came out husky. The door opened to reveal Peter. "Hey hotshot." he jumped onto the chair in front of Arlo's desk. Arlo looked up at him with a questionable glance. "How was Egon last night?" Peter asked with a smirk.

"Oh my god. Get out!" she yelled. Peter jumped up, "Lighten up, will you? I'm just joking." Peter yelled back. Arlo rubbed her forehead. "Peter, I'll only say this once: we did nothing." she said in a calmer voice. Peter raised his hands in the air, "Alright, alright. I'll stop bugging ya. Jeez." Peter mumbled as he walked out.

Janine had a smirk on her face as he walked out. "What are you staring at? Your bug-eyes still give me the creeps." Peter muttered as he made his way to his office. Janine sighed and went up to Egon's office. "What was that yelling about? I'm trying to fix this P.K.E meter." Egon questioned as Janine came through his office door. "Just your girlfriend and Peter arguing." Janine set down some paperwork on his desk.

Egon stood up, "I'll go check up on her." he rushed out of his office and down to Arlo's. "He's so in love." Janine sighed.

"Arlo?" Egon gave her door three soft knocks. "Peter I swear, I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine-" Arlo said as she opened the door, but stopped as soon as she saw Egon. "Oh." she stared at him. "I'm glad you didn't go in for the kick." Egon said in his normal monotone voice.

"Right. Come in." Arlo walked back into her office. "How's the trap fixing going?" Egon asked. "I can't seem to fix the mechanism. Can you take a look and see what I'm doing wrong?" she asked as she scratched the back of her head. "Sure." he sat down at her desk and immediately went to work to figure out the problem.

"Ah, I see. You put this circuit in the wrong place." he examined. "Did I? Oops." she chuckled. Egon looked up at her with a crooked smile, "It's a common mistake. I still do it sometimes. Actually, I don't. That was just a lie to make you feel better."

Arlo rolled her eyes, "Gee, thanks." Egon stood up and walked over to Arlo, "Aw, don't worry." Egon pulled her towards him, "I'm glad you asked for my help." he whispered. Arlo's face immediately became flushed at his actions. She cleared her throat and took a step back, "Ahem, right. Thanks for that. Yeah."

"You're welcome. Oh, and I was thinking," he paused. Arlo looked over to him, "Hm?" Egon shook his head, "Nevermind. We went out yesterday." Arlo tilted her head, "You want to go out on a date?" she raised an eyebrow. Egon's eyes widened, "I mean, yeah. If that's okay with you."

Arlo mustered up courage she didn't know she had and pulled Egon towards her, "How about tomorrow night?" she looked up at the 6'2 man. "That sounds-" he was interrupted by Janine opening the door. "Hey you two. Just wanted to introduce you to the new- oh." Janine paused in her tracks.

"Better come back later." she whispered to the man behind her. "Sorry you two. Carry on." Janine closed the door. Egon and Arlo looked at each other with a blank stare. "Right. Tomorrow sounds good." Egon nodded. Arlo chuckled, "Great. Surprise me with the date."

     Egon pulled back from Arlo slowly, his fingertips grazing her arm before dropping down to his side. "I'll see you later?" Egon asked as he held the door knob. She smiled, "Sure." Egon looked down with a grin on his face before leaving Arlo's office.

Arlo sat back down in her seat with a childish grin on her face.

     "Hey Eggie, did ya snog her?" Peter nudged Egon. "I didn't snog her." Egon replied. Peter raised an eyebrow, "Then what did Janine see?" Egon looked back at Arlo's office before looking back at Peter, "We were just talking." Peter scoffed, "Alright then, hotshot." he patted Egon's shoulder before walking back to his office.

"Are you Ray?" Winston asked Egon. "No, I'm Egon Spengler. And you?" he reached out his hand for him to shake. "Winston Zeddemore. Nice to meet you." he shook his hand. "He's the new recruit." Janine said as she read a magazine. Ray came from the garage with two steaming trap.

"That's Ray." Egon pointed to the ectoplasm-covered man. "Can you help me, please?" he placed the two trap in Winston's arms. "Oh. Welcome aboard." Arlo peeked her head out from the office. Ray nodded at Winston with a cheeky smile on his face.

The three went down to the basement. Arlo took the traps from Winston, "You see, this is where we put all the vapors and entities and slimers that they trap." she pointed to the red box on the wall. "It's very simple, actually. You load the trap here," she opened a compartment and put the trap inside. "Open, unlock the system. Insert the trap," a red light flashed. "Release, close, lock the system.
Set your entry grid. Neutronize your field. And when the light is green, the trap is clean. The ghost is incarcerated here in a custom-made storage facility."

Ray pushed the lever back up. Egon reviewed data from a chart. "So, do you 'bust ghosts'?" Winston asked Arlo. "Hah, I wish. They have me fixing the traps and other devices, though." Arlo smiled. "So you're a scientist?" Winston questioned. "You could say that, yes." Arlo picked up a faulty trap off the table. "Aw, come on. You're an exceptional scientist." Ray patted her shoulder.

"Gee, Ray. That means a lot coming from you." Arlo chuckled. "An amazing mechanic too." Egon commented. "Thanks Spengler."